The marvel of His grace

 

 

READ 2 Corinthians 1-4

I’m making a quilt with many four-inch pieces and a variety of fabrics. As quiltmakers learn, the range of values is just as important as the range of colors. To be beautiful, a quilt needs both bright and striking fabrics as well as less interesting, even dull choices. It is the drab that make the others ‘pop’ and stand out.

The second letter that Paul writes to the church at Corinth is a bit like that. He speaks of struggles and shares the difficulties of his ministry, but he also shares the glory. In the first chapter he tells his readers (and me) the plus side of suffering:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3–7)

At first it seems that personal comfort is that plus side, but it goes deeper. We suffer as we share in Christ’s suffering, which strangely affects the way I feel about myself. Instead of a pity-party this gives me a deeper sense of worth. It also turns my heart to think of how the Father comforted the Son in His suffering and that this same comfort is available to me. God did not take away the pain, but Jesus, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross and despised the shame” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Of course my suffering is not anything like His, yet His joy and attitude can be mine! Not only that, this comfort is not for me. While it gives me a testimony to His grace, it actually is given so I can comfort others. I know by experience that comforting others is related to His “peace of God that surpasses all understanding” — a peace that guards my heart no matter what I go through. (Philippians 4:4-7) It is a joy and sense of purpose that edifies, totally unlike a pity-party with my focus on my own problems. It is a joy that must be experienced; otherwise it seems totally impossible.

Part of the one-another aspect of being a member of the Body of Christ is that we support one another by our shared experiences. How important to tell others what Jesus is doing in our lives. We also talk to Jesus about what is going on, not so much about me, me, me, but the needs of others. As Paul also wrote: “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” (2 Corinthians 1:11)

A large part of my ‘suffering’ these days is watching the news and realizing the depth of darkness in so many people. I even get a tinge of survivor’s guilt realizing my privilege in being a child of God, yet that drives me to pray for those who can’t see the wonder of believing in Jesus. Today’s reading says this:

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:3–6)

Combine the sorrow of suffering and loss in others, plus the realization that time rapidly moves on to take us all to the end of our lives, I could be depressed, yet God has a word for that too:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

“For the joy set before Him . . . .” Christ endured. For the eternal glory set before me, I can also endure, not experiencing anything like Jesus did in His rejection and the Cross, but knowing that whatever He experienced, He allows me to share it with Him — including the glory and including a forever life with no more sorrow and pain. Lord God, I marvel at Your grace.